Page 36 of The Rebellious Countess
“Didn’t you?”
She shrank away with his cruel words. He hadn’t meant for them to sound callous or diminishing, and yet that is exactly how it came out. He had in essence told her that her feelings couldn’t be lasting. She felt infatuation, nothing more. It had never been love, nor would it ever be.
“You are cruel.”
He nodded once in agreement.
“Is that why they chose you for this job.”
“In part.”
“Why else?”
It was the one question he couldn’t answer. Wouldn’t. It would put the only person he cared about in danger, and for that, he would hold his silence at any cost.
Hag’s voice fractured the stillness like lightening splintering a deep stormy sky. “Because he’s my son and he’s a French citizen.”
Nine
Hag,
My employer lost a shipment early last month headed for Le Conquet. It was supposed to be delivered to Leland Astier but never arrived. He fears the thieves are working with one of his clerks, Simone Ferdone, who disappeared last month as well. He received information from Simone’s wife that he was traveling to Le Conquet, which made him believe Simone planned to steal the merchandise from there. If you see or hear of a shipment of 16 trunks of the best Empire silk to be made in the last 29 or 28 years, please contact me. I am staying at 312 Clarke Street. The recovery is worth 6600 francs which the 2 of us will split in 1/2. It may not be the fee you would prefer, but my employer is a merchant struggling to produce gowns for the peerage.
Your assistance is most welcome and appreciated,
Elias
—A numeric coded letter written to Hag in Le Conquet, France, April 1812—The numerals are the only indication of the decipher. “16 trunks” represents the 1st sentence, 6th word—EARLY, “last 29 or 28 years” represents inverting 9th and 8th words of the second sentence—ASTIER LELAND, “312 Clarke Street” represents the 3rd sentence12th word—Simone, and ‘6600 francs” represents the 6th sentence 6th word—CLARKE. The “2 of us will split in 1/2” represents the second sentence decipher words will be split in 1/2—ASTier-LEland=AST—LE.
From there Hag must decipher on her own the words: EARLY AST-LE SIMONE CLARKE—Earl of Astley Simon Clark is the missing shipment last seen in Le Conquet.
She laughed. What else was there to do. She didn’t believe Hag was her husband’s mother any more than Elias was her legal husband—except according to him, he was, and according to the looks on both of their faces, and their identical deep, mossy-green eyes, Hag was indeed Elias’s mother. Yet he’d told her his mother was dead. Another lie mounting up on top of the others. How could Hag be here in this tavern that wasn’t fit for a lady?
Holy demons. She’d been calling her mother-in-lawHag. Hag. Surely that wasn’t her real name, yet Máira had been insulting her this entire time.
She curtseyed. What else was there to do when one has realized how disparaging she’d been to her mother-in-law—to her face, no less. Had she called Hag a cold-blooded killer to Elias? Oh, but she had.
And she had slapped her.
There was a special place for women who insulted their husband’s mother. The woman who bore him, nursed him, and made life worth living for him after his father had died. Elias had spoken of that, but never deigned to tell her his mother’s name was Hag, despite referring to her as Hag since he’d entered the tavern. Who would be so utterly rude to one’s mother?
“You didn’t think it pertinent to tell me of your mother’s identity?”
“I haven’t told anyone of her identity.”
That gave her pause. “No one?”
Elias shook his head. “For her safety, I’d appreciate it if it didn’t leave this room.”
His mother laughed. “I’m the reason you’re in this mess.”
His smile was sad, sadder than she’d ever seen him, and it was as if in that moment she wasn’t there with them. Mother and son bonded over a shared grief. “Father is the reason we are in this mess. You only did his bidding because you loved both of us.”
Hag’s eyes watered and Máira thought she was seeing another person. The woman she knew as Hag did not cry—she murdered people.
“I can’t call you Hag.”
Her mother-by-marriage blinked away her tears and cleared her throat. “You can, and you will.”
